


Respect

by treya_barton



Series: Tainted Love [2]
Category: Persona 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Vampire Slayer, Attempted Sexual Assault, F/F, Gen, M/M, murder investigation, recount of murder attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:07:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26111626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/treya_barton/pseuds/treya_barton
Summary: Naoto continues to investigate her case in order to come up with a suspect for the murder and assault that occurred in a local shopping district.
Relationships: Amagi Yukiko/Satonaka Chie, Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu
Series: Tainted Love [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1895857
Comments: 20
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

The hum of the heater and the shuffling sound of paper as she read through her case files was comforting to Naoto. She was often in the office alone due to working the night shift and even then from having such an irregular schedule due to being in and out between her investigations. She often did not see the other members of her team and to be honest she preferred it that way. She merely kept a cordial acquaintanceship with them since her actual friends happened to be on the special investigative team that hunted vampires, although only few were cognizant of the true nature of their work. 

She had once been invited to join the other team, but Naoto’s interest and driving principles had always been tied to investigating murder cases and the monsters that lurked within humanity while bringing their victims their well-deserved justice. She had no qualms about passing on the special cases to Yosuke and the other members of that department, although she did occasionally step in to provide guidance with her years of investigative experience. She came from a family of detectives and had been a child prodigy that helped with cases long before it became her full career, so it was normal for others to have her take a look at a case in order to get her opinion.

Tonight, however, she was relying on someone else’s help. Yosuke had finally returned to work after another troubling encounter with a vampire had left him on leave for a few weeks while his body healed. This time he had been stalked by a former colleague of theirs and the thought still chilled her to the core. Yosuke had come this close to losing his life and no one would have suspected the actual killer. Since he was still stuck with deskwork and did not have much vampire casework to look through, he had offered to support her with the murder investigation he had been helping her with before. Yosuke looked at cases from a different angle than she did; while Naoto had a sharp mind and was able to make connections with the evidence, Yosuke had a natural intuition that allowed him to make leaps she was unable to based on gut instinct. It often helped when she was stuck on a case.

He was currently wearing a thick sweater, and his newly repaired leather jacket which was even more a patchwork of leather was resting on the back of her coworker’s chair he had rolled over from the other desk; Yosuke always liked to pick that chair, stating it was comfortable. Her coworker had bought it himself, complaining about the cheap chairs provided by the department, and she wondered if he realized how often Yosuke confiscated it. He had never mentioned anything so she wasn’t sure if he was aware. Yosuke sipped at his coffee and hummed as he read through the case file, a newly reported incident that had been brought to her attention that afternoon before she had come in for her shift.

A supervisor at another store in the shopping district had reported an incident early that morning when he had been in the process of opening the store. The front door to the store had been locked since he was preparing to open and like the other two victims he had been alone. He had reported that someone had attempted to enter the store, trying to convince him to let him in, and due to getting an unsettled feeling he had refused to, causing the suspect to grow angry and try to rattle at the door. When the supervisor threatened to call police he had left. Once he had gotten off work, the incident had bothered the supervisor enough that he went to report it, providing another potential clue if this was in fact the same suspect who had killed the store manager and assaulted the other supervisor in the other two incidents.

Naoto, meanwhile, was reviewing Tohru’s old casefile on the assault. Now that he was gone, she wanted to see if she could get the victim to talk and provide clues that may link him to the murder and to the potential attempted situation that morning. She had been unable to really tie down any suspects, especially any that would link both cases together, and needed some kind of a break. Across from her, Yosuke stopped humming and set down the case file, before crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

“What do you think?” Naoto asked, taking a sip of green tea. She had on a blue dress shirt, neatly pressed and wrinkle free, and had her suit jacket also resting on the back of her chair. Naoto always dressed professionally since she found people took her more seriously that way. One thing she had struggled with, especially as a child, was others taking her expertise to heart. She didn’t experience it to the same extent now, but it continued to influence certain decisions she made, including her attire.

Yosuke drummed his fingers on top of the file folder. “I think this is going to be a good lead,” he said. “Everything fits the other two encounters – same general area, during opening, employee there alone. We may be able to discern how he’s able to convince them to let him in too.”

Naoto nodded. “I thought so as well,” she agreed. She then set down her own case file – she had honestly read it enough by that point to have it memorized. She also decided it was a good time for a break and pulled out some snacks to go with her tea from her drawer. “Would you like some, sempai?” she asked, offering the open package to Yosuke. He looked at the brand before his eyes lit up.

“These are good,” he replied, grabbing a few to go with his coffee. “Thanks!”

As they nibbled on their cookies and sipped at their drinks, Naoto allowed her mind to drift to another topic that had been puzzling her. “How did things go with Narukami-san?” she asked, causing Yosuke to choke on his drink in surprise. He quickly set down his mug while coughing and trying to catch his breath.

“I’m sorry, took me by surprise,” he replied, once his breathing was back under control. Naoto handed him a tissue and he used it to wipe at his mouth. Naoto had heard a little bit of the story from Chie, but Yosuke hadn’t told her anything directly yet. He had turned bright red, which was basically telling her everything she needed to know. “Things are…well, they’re great,” he replied, eyes turning dazed for a moment. “Because of you helping me get into touch with Kujikawa-san we were able to meet up and work things out. I’ve…honestly not been this happy in a long time.” Naoto could tell by how bright Yosuke’s expression was just how much he cared about the other man and how truly happy he was. She couldn’t help but feel pleased for her friend – it had been obvious he had been lonely and he deserved someone who could appreciate his warmth and kindness. 

“That is good to hear,” she replied. “I certainly never expected such a request from you.”

“Yeah, I really owe you one. If it wasn’t for you, I’m not sure if I had ever been able to find him,” he admitted. “I’ll have to take you out for dinner or drinks some time!”

Naoto smiled at him before giving a small nod of her head. It wasn’t truly necessary – all she had done was given him Rise’s number – but that was just the kind of person Yosuke was. He liked to take care of his friends. Their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door and they both turned to see who it was. Naoto tensed, but carefully smoothed her expression into her normal neutral façade. “Sergeant,” she greeted, noting Yosuke’s eyes on her. She could fool most people, but he had grown used to reading her expression and had probably picked up on her tension.

“Detective Shirogane. I am sorry to interrupt – I was wondering if you had thought anymore about your offer.” The Sergeant was an older, seasoned detective who had been on the force prior to Naoto being born. For the most part he showed her respect and trusted her abilities, but he had recently extended her an offer which, truth be told, had upset her a little bit.

“I am still considering it,” Naoto coolly replied. “I will provide you my answer once I am ready.” The sergeant nodded his head before stepping back into the hallway, and Yosuke turned to look at her.

“What’s the offer?” he asked, and Naoto let out a sigh.

“It is a supervisory role at the child advocacy center,” she replied stiffly. She was staring out her window, although they couldn’t see anything due to it being dark outside. “I am up for corporal soon and they thought it would be a good position for me.”

“But you don’t want to do it,” Yosuke replied. He could tell she was upset.

Naoto sighed before turning to face him. “I cannot help but feel I was picked for the role precisely because I am a woman,” she admitted. “It is a respectable position. I would be able to gain more skills and knowledge. But…” she trailed off.

“But you enjoy working murder cases,” Yosuke replied. “And, hell, you’re damn good at solving them. I’m sure there’s plenty of opportunity to take on a supervisory role where you’re at. People already go to you for advice all the time – the only difference is you’d have a title.”

Naoto couldn’t help but feel a bit warm over Yosuke taking her side, but lightly shook her head. “Unfortunately, sempai, it is not that simple,” she replied. She then put the snacks away, signifying that break time was over, and picked up the case file that Yosuke had been reviewing.

Yosuke obviously looked frustrated on her behalf, but he bit back what he wanted to say and instead picked up the murder case file, wanting to review it again since it had been several weeks to see if he could pick up on any similarities with the other two cases that they may have missed. The office once again fell silent, although this time it wasn’t quite as comforting as it had been before.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naoto and Yosuke gather clues and finally seem to have a suspect for the murder investigation.

At the end of her shift, Naoto stayed up in order to go and interview the victim from the first attack. Tanaka Yua had mostly recovered from her injuries from the attack, but Naoto was well aware there were emotional injuries that took much longer to heal from. She had initially refused, mistrusting the police after Adachi’s initial interview which had been invasive and had almost seemed to pass blame for the attack onto herself. It had taken days after Adachi had “gone missing” for Naoto to get her to agree with another interview. She had focused on how her attack could be tied to others in the district and how information she provided could potentially save others from a similar fate, and that tied with the fact she was a female detective seemed to finally win her over.

Naoto knocked on the door to the small apartment that Yua lived in. She waited patiently until she heard the sound of the door unlocking and it slowly swung open to reveal the victim. Most of her bruises had faded away, but Naoto knew there were some cuts under her clothes still healing and she could tell by her tired expression and the dark circles under her eyes that she was still haunted by what happened to her. Naoto bowed her head in greeting. “I am Detective Shirogane who reached out earlier for an interview. Is this still a good time?” She had offered to have it at Yua’s apartment instead of asking her to come into the office, figuring she would be more comfortable at home.

“Yes. I’m ready….” she replied, before stepping aside to let Naoto in. “If you give me a moment, I will prepare some tea.” 

Her apartment was small, but did at least have a separate room for the bedroom, although the living room and kitchen were crammed into one space. Naoto went to sit down at the small, two seated table that was situated at the edge of the living room closest to the kitchen and watched as Yua poured water into the electric kettle and prepared them some green tea. She brought it over to the table, hands a little shaky with her nerves, but managed to set down the teapot and to fill both of their cups without spilling any. She warmed her hands on her cup while Naoto took a delicate sip. It was a little watery due to not having been steeped long enough, but it was palatable. 

“I would like you to take me back to the day of the attack. What was your routine like? What were you doing prior to the encounter? Tell me as much as you can remember.” Naoto placed her phone on the table with a recording app, turning it on as she also pulled out a pen and a notepad to jot down some notes. Then, she prepared to listen.

Yua was slow going at first as she tried to get her timeline of events down pat. She said at first everything had been all jumbled together, but as time passed she slowly had begun to piece together the order of events, although the attack itself was still hit or miss. She explained that she was opening that morning by herself as she always did on Wednesdays. They had a part time employee that had a longer commute and had to wait for the first train to start so she always spent the first half hour alone. She would go through their normal opening inventory tasks before getting the cash registers set up for the morning.

She kept the door locked for security purposes – when the employee arrived he knew to call the store so she would come and let him in. That morning, as she was going around doing spot counts on inventory, a man had knocked on the door, startling her. Right after the attack, Yua’s memory had been too hazy to remember any details about what he had been wearing, but she had finally remembered that he had been dressed up in a maintenance uniform for the local electric company. He said he was there to work on the lights – a few bulbs were out and the manager had set up an appointment to get them replaced.

Yua had thought nothing of it. It was true that there were some lights out in the store and the manager was always putting in tickets to get them fixed; he said that when lights were not brightly lit it could influence potential shoppers’ decisions to buy. So, she had let him in before returning to work. He had come in with a toolkit and asked where they kept a ladder, and she returned to the office which was locked in order to work on the till.

When she stepped out again carrying the till for the four registers in the store, he had been waiting at the door and attacked her. The details of the attack where chilling, and Naoto could tell based on decisions he had made that it seemed to be very well planned out. He had probably staked out the store and had noticed that she always opened by herself on Wednesdays, and had brought his own materials for the attack in the toolkit. He also knew where the cameras were in the store and had carefully kept his head down with his hat covering his head so they wouldn’t be able to get his face as he walked around. The hallway in front of the office did not have a camera which is why he chose that spot for the attack.

Yua had struggled to fight him off, and managed to buy herself enough time that the part-time employee arrived in the middle of the attack. The perpetrator had made one fatal mistake – he had not locked the door after himself and Yua had also forgotten, so surprised was she by his sudden appearance. So, when no one answered the phone, the part-time employee had tried the door and was surprised to find it open. The perpetrator realized that someone had entered when the door sensor let out a chime and had fled out the back, exiting through the emergency door next to the dock door where they received their freight. The other employee thought he was a burglar and called the police before going to look for Yua, and was horrified to find her in her bloodied state. To make it appear to be a burglary, the perpetrator had stolen some of the money from the till, and he had managed to hurriedly pack up his tools as he fled, leaving only the blue rope he used to tie her wrists together as evidence.

Naoto listened attentively as she talked, only interrupting to ask clarifying questions, and taking notes on all of the pertinent details. “I am so sorry such a horrible thing happened to you,” Naoto said as she wrapped up the interview, the tea having long grown cold. “But I can assure you that we will be using your experience to catch this man and ensure this doesn’t happen to anyone else. Thank you for sharing it with me – we will get justice for what happened to you.”

Yua was quiet for a moment, before letting out a sniff. Naoto was alarmed to realize she had tears in her eyes, and she quickly pulled out her handkerchief to hand to her. Yua had managed to go through the whole interview without getting emotional, so Naoto wondered what had triggered the response. “I’m sorry I just…” she trailed off. “Thank you. You took to heart everything I said and I can tell that you’re sincere and honest in your words. I’ve just been blaming myself for so long, thinking I should have seen the signs, shouldn’t have made myself vulnerable…”

Naoto shook her head, before reaching out and placing a gentle hand on Yua’s shoulder. Yua flinched, before relaxing. She looked up at Naoto who gave her a serious look. “What happened to you wasn’t your fault. The man who attacked you did careful research to plan this attack and manipulate you to get your trust. Do not blame yourself. You were very strong and very brave – you fought off your assailant and survived the attack. And you gave me vital information to continue my investigation. If you ever need anything, feel free to reach out. I will do everything I can to assist.”

Naoto handed Yua her business card, and Yua took it gratefully before bowing her head. She wiped her eyes dry, before handing back the handkerchief. “Thank you, Shirogane-san,” she said, giving her a tired smile.

“Thank you for meeting with me today, Tanaka-san,” Naoto replied. 

On her way home, she called Yosuke who had similarly gone to interview Yamada Kaito, the employee in the most recent case who had managed to avoid attack when he refused to open the door. “Sempai, what did you learn?” Naoto asked.

Yosuke let out a yawn – they were both on night shift as usual and would usually be in bed by now. “I didn’t find out anything that seemed to link the victims together other than being at the store alone. But he did have a description of the perpetrator, and I think I know how he tricks them into letting him inside,” Yosuke explained. Naoto knew what it probably was, but waited to hear Yosuke’s story in order to confirm.

“Yamada-san said he was working on opening the store when there was a knock on the door with an electrician asking to be let in to do maintenance work. He said the store manager had put in a ticket. Yamada-san thought it was strange since nothing had been mentioned to him, and he stated he would have to call the store manager to confirm. Something about the situation made him uneasy, and his instincts were confirmed when the other man began to rattle the door and grow angry that Yamada-san wouldn’t let him in. Yamada-san threatened to call the police which is when the man left.”

“Tanaka-san said the same thing. We may finally have the clue we need to break open this case,” Naoto replied. Yosuke could tell by her tone how excited she was – there was an upbeat lilt to her normally even voice. “Did he happen to remember which company the logo was from? Tanaka-san knew it was an electrical company but couldn’t remember the exact logo.”

“He did – I already looked it up. This company does maintenance work for all three stores,” Yosuke replied.

“Good work, sempai,” Naoto smiled. “Let’s combine notes about the description from Tanaka-san and Yamada-san so I can go to the company later today to see if matches any of their employees.” Her eyes had lit with fire now that she finally had a clue, and she was raring to begin her investigation. Yosuke chuckled, interrupting her thoughts.

“I know you’re ready to go, but I am sure you’re as tired as I am. Why not get a few hours of sleep in first so you’re not exhausted when we try to take this guy down?”

Naoto bit her lip – once she had a lead, she wanted to jump into it right away – but Yosuke had a point. There were still several things she needed to investigate and evidence she would need before getting a warrant for arrest so she would need to be well rested and ready to jump into those lines of investigation. “You may have a point,” she sighed.

“This afternoon, just let me know what you need to do.” Yosuke also sounded excited – they had been working on this case for weeks now and although Yosuke had gotten side-tracked with his own cases, he was also looking forward to catching the perpetrator and getting justice for the victims.

Later that afternoon, after getting some sleep and refreshing herself with a shower and a late lunch for breakfast, Naoto headed to the electrical company to start trying to narrow down to a potential suspect. After showing the secretary her badge and explaining why she was there, she provided the description taken by both victims and was pleased when one employee – an Ito Yuma – seemed to fit the description. Naoto got his employee picture and he did seem to fit the description both by his appearance and his height and weight. She thanked the secretary and figured her first course of action would be to do a lineup of photos to see if both Yue and Kaito selected the same person. She would have Yosuke help her dig into Yuma’s background in order to see if anything came up that would lend itself to a motive. Since none of the victims were similar to each other beyond opening the store alone, she needed something that tied him to all three locations as well.

Just as she was on her way back to the office to get the lineup setup and to get a head start on research, she was interrupted by a phone call from one of her coworkers in the department. It was Detective Nakamura, the one whose chair Yosuke always borrowed when he visited. “Shirogane-san,” he greeted.

“How can I help, Nakamura-san?” Naoto replied.

“I was wondering if you knew who was on duty at assaults right now. I need to look up something in an old case file that they probably have,” he explained.

Naoto thought for a moment. “It should be Kobayashi-san,” she replied. “Do you have Kobayashi-san’s number?”

“I’m not sure. Can you send it to me just to be sure?”

Naoto hummed her confirmation, and they both hung up. She quickly texted him the contact info, suddenly remembering Yosuke’s words the night before. ‘I guess I really do already act as their supervisor,’ she realized. Everyone in the department turned to her for help more than the sergeant that was acting as their supervisor. She always figured it was because he was busy, but now she wasn’t so sure. She tapped her fingers on her steering wheel as she drove, pondering over the realization only for a moment before turning her thoughts back to her case at hand. Now that she finally had a suspect, it was time to get this case in motion.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naoto gathers needed evidence for her suspect and makes an arrest.

After Naoto had gotten everything set up for the lineup, pulling other photos to use and calling Yue and Kaito to schedule an appointment with both of them, she began to look into Ito Yuma to see if they had anything on file for him. She was unsurprised to see that he had a juvenile record tied to animal abuse and that a former coworker had pressed sexual assault charges against him, although those charges were later dropped. Both were indications of psychopathy, but it was still not enough to definitively tie him to the assault and murder which were elevated crimes.

Naoto called the electric company again, to see if she could gather any clues. If she could tie Ito to each location then that could be a step forward in the case. The secretary stated that he had not been scheduled to do maintenance at any of the stores when provided the date and address of each incident, but she did say he had a work truck that tracked his locations by GPS. They would be willing to cooperate and provide her the data for her investigation. Naoto reached out to Yosuke, asking if he could pick up the data and do the legwork for her, and he readily agreed, not minding going into work early in order to pick it up before the company closed. He was also eager to close this case.

While he worked on that, Naoto went ahead and scheduled an appointment with Sato Ichika, Ito’s former coworker who had pressed charges against him. She was willing to come in for an interview that afternoon upon hearing his name. Before that, Naoto had both of her appointments with Yua and Kaito. They both ended up selecting Ito from the lineups once the photos had been laid out in front of them, further solidifying her case. Right before her interview with Sato, Yosuke also called, having received the data from Ito’s work truck. He had checked the GPS records around the time of each incident and they all showed that Ito had parked in the area, showing up prior to the attack and attempt and leaving soon afterward. He had also gone through to see if the truck had shown up to the locations prior to the incidents and had noticed a pattern of the truck showing up early a few weeks beforehand, indicating he had cased them out. It appeared he was doing this before he was on the clock, so he hadn’t missed any of his scheduled appointments while planning and enacting his attacks.

With that, they really had all they needed for a warrant, but Naoto still wanted to gather the last bit of evidence. She still didn’t have a strong motive and wanted to be thorough when building the case. She wanted to make sure his victims saw justice for his actions. Not long after, Ichika arrived, knocking on the door and stepping inside. Naoto stood up and they both bowed in greeting before Ichika sat down across from her. She looked nervous and kept playing with a tassel on her purse as she fidgeted and looked around the office.

“You said you had some questions about Ito-san,” she finally started. Naoto set her phone to record and set it on the table before grabbing her notebook and a pen.

“I would appreciate it if you would provide any details surrounding the charges you had pressed against Ito-san in the past,” Naoto replied. “Anything you could provide would be useful for a current case I am investigating.”

Ichika glanced at her nameplate, before looking around her office, empty from the other detectives who were out doing their own investigations for day shift. She had noticed that she had been sent to the homicide division when directed to Naoto’s office. She took a deep breath before going into details. Ito had worked with her at a part time job at a convenience store when they were both in high school. It was their third year and Ito had been 18 while she was 17. He had seemed nice enough at first – polite and helpful, taking on some of the heavy lifting at work when stocking the shelves – and they had started seeing each other outside of work. It hadn’t been anything that Ichika would consider an established relationship, just a few dates here and there, but not long into it he began to pressure her into taking things further. She had refused him, not ready for that kind of relationship, wanting to at least wait until college since she was studying for entrance exams at the time, but he was insistent and continued to press the issue.

She had broken off things with him, no longer willing to go on dates, and thought that was the end of it until one day at work when she was taking out the trash before the end of their shift, he had attacked her and tried to force himself on her. He had chosen an area that couldn’t be seen from the outside cameras, and at that time of night the alleyway where the dumpster was located was generally empty. He had tried choking her in the process, saying something about seeing the life leave her eyes. She had been scared, but had managed to fight him off and ran inside to the protection of the cameras and some customers who had been waiting at the register to check out. Upon noticing how shaken and upset she apepared, they had come to her aid, contacting police while grabbing the supervisor who had been in the back room working on paperwork. At first, she had reported the incident to the police, but after a few days she had received pressure from work to drop charges, telling her they would transfer Ito and make sure didn’t bother her again, while her parents had done the same, not wanting a scandal on their hands and the potential impact it could have on her going to college.

So, in the end, she had dropped the charges and the store had swept the incident under the rug, shuffling Ito to another one of their locations in order to save face. Ichika had been unable to work there for very long after that, having difficulty recovering from the trauma and upset that the store had chosen to protect its image over her, and she had quit in order to focus solely on her studies so she could get into a university in order to put some distance between her and the event. Naoto diligently took notes, allowing Ichika time to go over the more difficult parts, noting that even though it had been a decade some parts were still difficult for her to talk about. Naoto got her a cup of coffee once she was done, and allowed her time to calm down.

“Thank you for coming forth with what had happened to you,” Naoto replied. “This information will be very useful for my investigation. Would you be willing to testify if this goes to trial?”

Ichika looked unsure, obviously mulling over what had happened before. Testifying would be potentially opening herself up to scrutiny especially since she had dropped the charges before. “Has he…hurt someone else?” she carefully asked. Naoto nodded, before folding her hands in front of her.

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Ichika looked down, guilt forming on her face. “But it wasn’t your fault – you were a teenager when this happened,” Naoto gently pointed out. “It was the adults around you – and the criminal justice system – that caused this. I will make sure that we don’t allow it to continue any further.”

Ichika nodded, blinking back tears. She then nodded to herself. “I will testify,” she said, before standing up and bowing her head. “Thank you for hearing my story.”

Naoto stood up and bowed as well, before watching Ichika as she headed out of her office, purse slung over her shoulder. She looked like a weight had been lifted from her, and Naoto couldn’t help but softly smile. Ito’s victims were truly brave, and they would be what helped her stop him from committing anymore crimes.

Afterward, Naoto began to write up the warrant for arrest, and once the evening team had clocked in she and Nakamura headed to Ito-san’s residence in order to enact it. She had gotten swift approval from a judge and had everything in order. He had come in surprisingly without much of a fight, face neutral as they read him his rights during the arrest and then went through the process of booking him at the station. They collected DNA from him to compare with the skin under Yua and the deceased victim Takahashi Asahi. They had already tested and identified that the DNA found in both attacks was a match, but they did not have any in the database that they could connect to it. Naoto was sure that it would match Ito, but they had to do the comparison just to be sure.

Yosuke had been unable to join her for the arrest due to still being on desk duty as he recovered, but he did arrive for the interrogation, giving Naoto a wave before he entered the viewing room where he could listen in as Naoto conducted the interrogation. After deciding Ito had waited long enough to really stew, Naoto finally entered the room in order to begin.

She pulled out a recorder and set it and her file for Ito on the table before folding her hands on the table in front of her. She looked at Ito calmly, allowing the silence to continue for a bit longer, waiting for him to feel uncomfortable before starting. “Do you know why you’re here?” she asked.

Ito stared at her coldly, dressed in the very uniform he had been wearing when carrying out his attacks. He had been arrested shortly after getting home from work. “We have evidence and witnesses pinning you to the assault on Tanaka Yua, the murder of Takahashi Asahi, and the attempted attack on Yamada Kaito. Do you have anything you wish to say?”

Ito remained silent, staring past Naoto and at the camera in the corner of the room. “We have GPS evidence of your vehicle at each location at the time of the incident. We could see that you repeatedly came to each location leading up to the incidents, no doubt staking them out.” She spoke slowly and succinctly, in no rush. She had 48 hours before she would need to present the case to prosecution and had no doubt they would willingly take it on. By then the DNA tests should be completed, further tying him to the murder and assault. “The only thing I cannot understand is why. None of the victims had anything in common. What was your motivation?”

That seemed to catch his attention. Ito turned to face her, eyes still devoid of emotion although he began to laugh. “Do I need a reason?” he asked. “It was their fault for being alone.”

Ito did not end up saying much after that, and by the evening of the next day the test results were back, matching him to the DNA from both victims. Naoto made her case to the prosecutors and they accepted it, promising they would see justice as Naoto shared what she had gathered so far from her investigation.

A few days later, Yosuke invited her out to celebrate, buying her drinks as promised while also being joined by their other friends Chie and Kanji. Yosuke also brought along Yu, allowing Naoto to finally see the man Yosuke was so charmed by, while Chie brought Yukiko. They had fun, congratulating Naoto on her hard work, and teasing Yosuke by trying to downplay his involvement in the case which he took surprisingly well. Usually he would put up more of a fuss, but Naoto could tell having Yu there grounded his temper. Yu was quite handsome and charming, unsurprising given that he was a vampire, but Naoto could tell how enamored he was by her friend and decided she would give him a pass for now.

Toward the end of the night, when everyone was starting to get a bit tipsy, Naoto pulled Yosuke aside for a private chat. She didn’t know if it was the alcohol giving her courage or Yosuke’s words a few days ago finally giving her clarity, but she had made her decision. “I’m going to turn down the offer,” she said. “We don’t have a corporal in our office right now – Sergeants been handling it for us but to be quite honest I’ve basically been fulfilling the role.”

Yosuke grinned at her, proud over her decision. “Now that is something to drink to,” he said, clanking their glasses together before taking a sip of his beer. Naoto took a sip of her wine, feeling like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

“Thank you, for everything sempai,” she said sincerely. 

“It sounds like soon you’re going to be the sempai,” Yosuke said thoughtfully. “I should start practicing for it.” Naoto rolled her eyes before smiling, and they both returned to the rest of the group, Yosuke stating that they needed to drink at least one more round while Yu tried to convince him that he’d had enough.

The next day, Naoto went to go see the Sergeant, letting her know her decision. He seemed surprised, but to her relief he readily agreed, stating he had been swamped and would appreciate the help. Because their current corporal was on leave, he had offered her the position at the child advocacy center in order to allow her to promote more quickly since their position was technically not open yet. However, since she was due for promotion, he was sure he could pull some strings and let her fill the position temporarily. More than likely when the current corporal returned he would have no qualms with moving to a different department. 

After Naoto left the meeting, she pumped her fist in a rare show of excitement, realizing that this time she would have to treat Yosuke for drinks instead. She sent him a text, asking if he had been practicing calling her sempai yet, and he responded back in excitement, asking if that meant she would be staying in homicide. Naoto let him know that the Sergeant had agreed to her wishes, and to her amusement Yosuke began to call for another party. She messaged him to wait until there was an official announcement first before sliding her phone back into her pocket and stretching. With this case finally behind her and her decision finally made about her offer, Naoto felt better than she had all month. With renewed energy, she headed back to her office, ready to tackle another case.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, this is my first in a series of side stories I will be writing for Tainted Love! I plan to post a chapter a week for each side story I have planned for the other members of the IT along with an epilogue for TL that will lead up to part II for the series! I plan on starting Part II for the Souyo Halloween week for 2020 since Tainted Love had been writing for 2019's :) I hope everyone enjoys seeing a little bit more about the lives of the rest of the IT in the Tainted Love universe!


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